The applicant has suggested a method of connecting data of transmission channels in the direction of a frequency axis and transmitting the data while the guard band of each channel is removed in terrestrial digital broadcasting (see Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example). This connected transmission method is also specified in ISDB-Tsb, which is the transmission method standard in terrestrial digital sound broadcasting.
By this connected transmission method, broadcasting can be performed with higher frequency usage efficiency. On the receiving side, even if channel switching is performed between transmission channels subjected to connected transmission, the synchronizing timing set in the transmission channel received prior to the switching can also be used in the transmission channel to be received after the switching. Accordingly, the reception device can simplify the synchronization regenerating operation for demodulation, and shorten the channel switching time.
Meanwhile, terrestrial analog television broadcasting will end in July 2011, as the transition to terrestrial digital television broadcasting is in progress. Multimedia broadcasting for mobile terminals is planned by using part of the frequency band not to be used after the end of terrestrial analog broadcasting, or more specifically, by using the frequency band from 207.5 to 222 MHz. In the 14.5 MHz band from 207.5 to 222 MHz, up to 33 segments that are equivalent to two transmission channels in a 13-segment format for one channel of terrestrial digital television broadcasting, and seven transmission channels in a one-segment format can be secured.